13 men displaced after fire damages Holden House sober living complex

LANSING -- A transitional housing complex in south Lansing is seeking help after 13 men were displaced Friday evening following an electrical fire in a second floor laundry room. 

The Holden House at 3300 S. Pennsylvania Ave. will remain closed indefinitely while its owners and insurance adjusters assess the damage and determine if the men should continue living there. 

No one was injured in the blaze; the men have been moved to temporary housing at the St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt, said Jessica Lamson, Mid-Michigan Recovery Services' executive director. 

Lamson said Mid-Michigan Recovery Services, the building's owner, is seeking financial donations so it can eventually find a new facility that can accommodate the men who are in recovery from substance abuse problems and bouts of homelessness. 

"The facility is kind of aging so to repair it and renovate it while people are in there is almost impossible," Lamson said. 

The Holden House has housed men in recovery at its current location since 1991. A previous facility, also with the same name, started serving men in 1967. 

Mid-Michigan Recovery Services has provided services for men and women in recovery in the Lansing area since 1959. 

Lamson said the fire started at about 10 p.m. Friday in a laundry room ceiling fan while the residents and a staff member were inside the facility. She said it was put out by Lansing Fire Department staff within about 20 minutes. 

Steve Mazurek, a fire department spokesperson, said Sunday afternoon the men who were displaced have received assistance from a local American Red Cross chapter. 

Mazurek said firefighters found smoke damage throughout the building but were able to minimize the damage because they acted quickly. 

"They were able to catch it early," Mazurek said. 

Firefighters had to flood most of the building to put out the fire and make sure it didn't spread. They also pulled down drywall and insulation in the laundry room ceiling, Lamson said. 

The men who stay in the facility can't stay there at this time because there's "sludge" in the area that was created by the smoke and water damage and concerns of possible carcinogens, Lamson said. 

"We're so lucky," Lamson said. "The fire itself only damaged the laundry room. The residential damage happened while the ceiling was pulled."

How to help

Those who want to donate to help Mid-Michigan Recovery Services find a new home for men who who live in the Holden House can donate online at mmrsinc.org or recoveryispossible.org. 

For more information, visit the organization's Facebook page at  facebook.com/MidMichiganRecoveryServices or call 887-0226.

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Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.

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